Hiker who died at Transylvania falls identified

From staff reports

Published: Friday, October 18, 2013 at 12:32 p.m.

Last Modified: Friday, October 18, 2013 at 12:32 p.m.

Craig Marvil, 46, of Asheville has been positively identified as the man who fell to his death Sunday on the Thompson River in Transylvania County, according to a spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service.

The medical examiner has ruled that Marvil drowned after he suffered blunt force trauma from the fall, Forest Service spokesman Stevin Wescott stated in an email on Friday.

Marvil fell from a “very large outcropping” adjacent to Big Falls in Pisgah National Forest south of N.C. Highway 281 South around 5:15 p.m. Sunday, according to Lake Toxaway Fire & Rescue Chief Bobby Cooper.

The man's female hiking companion walked for several hours along the Foothills Trail to reach the Bad Creek Hydroelectric Plant and call 911, Cooper said.

Emergency workers found Marvil's body at the base of the falls on Monday, but because of the area's remoteness and steep terrain, they were unable to recover the body until Tuesday afternoon.

Cooper said the man's two sons were at the emergency staging area at N.C. Highway 281 South and Brewer Road during the recovery effort.

On Tuesday, a group of 25 rescue workers approached the Big Falls from the North Carolina side, and another 10 rescuers made their way to the site from the South Carolina side, Cooper said.

A South Carolina Law Enforcement Division helicopter lifted the body from the river gorge, and it was transported to the medical examiner's office at Transylvania Regional Hospital.

<p>Craig Marvil, 46, of Asheville has been positively identified as the man who fell to his death Sunday on the Thompson River in Transylvania County, according to a spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service.</p><p>The medical examiner has ruled that Marvil drowned after he suffered blunt force trauma from the fall, Forest Service spokesman Stevin Wescott stated in an email on Friday.</p><p> </p><p>Marvil fell from a “very large outcropping” adjacent to Big Falls in Pisgah National Forest south of N.C. Highway 281 South around 5:15 p.m. Sunday, according to Lake Toxaway Fire & Rescue Chief Bobby Cooper. </p><p>The man's female hiking companion walked for several hours along the Foothills Trail to reach the Bad Creek Hydroelectric Plant and call 911, Cooper said. </p><p>Emergency workers found Marvil's body at the base of the falls on Monday, but because of the area's remoteness and steep terrain, they were unable to recover the body until Tuesday afternoon.</p><p>Cooper said the man's two sons were at the emergency staging area at N.C. Highway 281 South and Brewer Road during the recovery effort.</p><p>On Tuesday, a group of 25 rescue workers approached the Big Falls from the North Carolina side, and another 10 rescuers made their way to the site from the South Carolina side, Cooper said. </p><p>A South Carolina Law Enforcement Division helicopter lifted the body from the river gorge, and it was transported to the medical examiner's office at Transylvania Regional Hospital.</p>